Impact of climate change on cost and cost efficiency of solar irrigation in Sub-Saharan Africa

Irrigation is considered a promising option for improving agricultural productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa. To support irrigation expansion in the region, solar-powered irrigation systems are increasingly being promoted due to limited grid connections, fuel supply constraints, and gradual declines in...

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Main Authors: Xie, Hua, Ringler, Claudia
Format: Preprint
Language:Inglés
Published: Earth and Space Science Open Archive 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/162944
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author Xie, Hua
Ringler, Claudia
author_browse Ringler, Claudia
Xie, Hua
author_facet Xie, Hua
Ringler, Claudia
author_sort Xie, Hua
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Irrigation is considered a promising option for improving agricultural productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa. To support irrigation expansion in the region, solar-powered irrigation systems are increasingly being promoted due to limited grid connections, fuel supply constraints, and gradual declines in their costs. However, compared to fossil fuel-based irrigation systems, the performance of solar irrigation systems is more sensitive to climate changes. This paper evaluates the impact of climate change on the cost and cost efficiency of stand-alone solar irrigation systems across Sub-Saharan Africa under five CMIP6 SSP5-8.5 climate change scenarios. We find that climate change will increase the investment cost and erode the cost efficiency of solar irrigation systems relative to diesel irrigation in most countries and crop areas across the region. However, the decline in the cost performance of solar irrigation is expected to be moderate and might well be offset if the cost of solar panels continues to decrease.
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spelling CGSpace1629442025-01-24T08:53:36Z Impact of climate change on cost and cost efficiency of solar irrigation in Sub-Saharan Africa Xie, Hua Ringler, Claudia agricultural productivity climate change cost analysis irrigation Irrigation is considered a promising option for improving agricultural productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa. To support irrigation expansion in the region, solar-powered irrigation systems are increasingly being promoted due to limited grid connections, fuel supply constraints, and gradual declines in their costs. However, compared to fossil fuel-based irrigation systems, the performance of solar irrigation systems is more sensitive to climate changes. This paper evaluates the impact of climate change on the cost and cost efficiency of stand-alone solar irrigation systems across Sub-Saharan Africa under five CMIP6 SSP5-8.5 climate change scenarios. We find that climate change will increase the investment cost and erode the cost efficiency of solar irrigation systems relative to diesel irrigation in most countries and crop areas across the region. However, the decline in the cost performance of solar irrigation is expected to be moderate and might well be offset if the cost of solar panels continues to decrease. 2024-11 2024-12-02T16:56:20Z 2024-12-02T16:56:20Z Preprint https://hdl.handle.net/10568/162944 en https://doi.org/10.1029/2020EF001611 Open Access Earth and Space Science Open Archive Xie, Hua; and Ringler, Claudia. 2024. Impact of climate change on cost and cost efficiency of solar irrigation in Sub-Saharan Africa. Earth and Space Science Open Archive [Preprint]. Published November 27, 2024. In Review. https://doi.org/10.22541/essoar.173272491.14760192/v1
spellingShingle agricultural productivity
climate change
cost analysis
irrigation
Xie, Hua
Ringler, Claudia
Impact of climate change on cost and cost efficiency of solar irrigation in Sub-Saharan Africa
title Impact of climate change on cost and cost efficiency of solar irrigation in Sub-Saharan Africa
title_full Impact of climate change on cost and cost efficiency of solar irrigation in Sub-Saharan Africa
title_fullStr Impact of climate change on cost and cost efficiency of solar irrigation in Sub-Saharan Africa
title_full_unstemmed Impact of climate change on cost and cost efficiency of solar irrigation in Sub-Saharan Africa
title_short Impact of climate change on cost and cost efficiency of solar irrigation in Sub-Saharan Africa
title_sort impact of climate change on cost and cost efficiency of solar irrigation in sub saharan africa
topic agricultural productivity
climate change
cost analysis
irrigation
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/162944
work_keys_str_mv AT xiehua impactofclimatechangeoncostandcostefficiencyofsolarirrigationinsubsaharanafrica
AT ringlerclaudia impactofclimatechangeoncostandcostefficiencyofsolarirrigationinsubsaharanafrica